<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Taylor Swift's Discography: Fanfiction Edition by NoirAngel011</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28183620">Taylor Swift's Discography: Fanfiction Edition</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoirAngel011/pseuds/NoirAngel011'>NoirAngel011</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018), The Owl House (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anthology, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Catra (She-Ra) Redemption, Childhood Trauma, F/F, Inner Amity AU, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra)'s A+ Parenting, Songfic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:14:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,195</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28183620</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoirAngel011/pseuds/NoirAngel011</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Exactly what the title says. I put Taylor Swift on shuffle and the first song that comes up, I use the title to write a story about either She-Ra or The Owl House characters. Each will be a 300-800 word ficlet and probably won’t relate to the actual subject of the song, just the title.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Amity Blight &amp; Luz Noceda, Catra &amp; Micah (She-Ra)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. exile</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I will be updating the tags with every chapter I post. the tags won't go into a lot of detail, just one per chapter, maybe two, as there's a limit and we have a lot of chapters here, obviously. Relationships and characters will also be added as we go.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Catra sat curled up on the floor of Brightmoon’s spare room. She wasn’t encased behind any barrier, but the door was locked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She tucked her chin into the crevice between her knees, legs pulled up to her chest as she awaited her punishment. She could feel tears brimming her eyes but she shoved them down. She brought this upon herself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked out the window instead. The planet was beautiful, bright and green and happy. It was the exact opposite of how the old her would have wanted it to be, but now she thought it was beautiful. Mostly because the person she loved most in the world had made it that way. Catra sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t know what was about to happen to her, but there was a chance she might not see Adora ever again after it. She turned her gaze away from the window and focused on the door, waiting for somebody to arrive with the news of what the princesses had decided to happen to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She knew that this would happen. She knew that if she tried to join the good guys, this is what would happen. They would use her to win the war and then punish her for her crimes. A part of her was okay with that. A part of her was angry at that. A part of her hated herself for being angry at that. It was only fair. There wasn’t one person in Bright Moon she hadn’t affected in some way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She watched the doorknob turn, and she was surprised to find Adora slip in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Adora,” Catra drawled, a sad smile on her face. Adora turned to face her and Catra’s smile fell as she saw that Adora had clearly been crying. Adora walked over to her without a word, sitting down in front of her. “What’s happening?” Catra asked. Adora shook her head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know. I couldn’t stay in there. They kept talking about horrible things and it hurt too much to picture those happening to you. I couldn’t handle it.” Adora shook her head before grabbing Catra and pulling her into a big hug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I probably deserve them,” Catra said. She heard Adora cry at that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No! You don’t! You deserve a second chance, not execution!” Catra tensed at the consideration that execution had actually been on the table. She had never thought that the princesses had the balls to do that. Adora slowly pulled away from the hug and wiped away her tears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I think King Micah is gonna come talk to you. I should probably leave before he does.” Catra nodded solemnly and Adora leaned forward, kissing Catra softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you,” Catra told her. Adora sadly smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do too. So much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora rose and shuffled out of the room and Catra could tell by her body language that she could break down at any moment. Catra’s ears pressed flat against her head at the thought that she was the reason Adora was in so much pain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door opened again after a few minutes, pulling Catra out of her own thoughts. Sure enough, it was King Micah. He smiled warmly at Catra but looked slightly confused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why don’t you come have a seat on the couch, the floor can’t be comfortable.” Catra was perfectly fine on the floor but decided it was probably best not to argue. She stood up, stretching out her joints as she walked over to the couch that was pushed up against the wall. King Micah took a seat beside her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The princesses and I have been talking. If you were in my shoes, what punishment would you give yourself?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra’s eyes widened. She was being asked what her punishment should be? Why? Since when did the prisoner get a say in what happened to them? Stars, Bright Moon had a horrible system here. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra had to think about what she thought should happen to her for a moment. She tried to be fair. What did she deserve for her crimes?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think I should be exiled, or executed if you really want me to get a fair punishment. It’s probably best to just keep me away from society forever.” Catra once again brought her knees up to her chest. It felt like a reflex at this point, a way to hide from the rest of the world.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>King Micha looked at her, shocked and bewildered. Then he laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I guess it’s a good thing you aren’t in my shoes. All I’m asking from you is for you to try and be better.” He smiled at her, and Catra’s jaw dropped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“B-but I hurt so many people! I killed people, I destroyed their homes, I ruined Mermista’s kingdom, and you just want me to walk free?!” Catra couldn’t believe what she was hearing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you think trying to be better means, Catra?” Micah asked. Catra recoiled. She realized that she didn’t know.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I don’t know…” she muttered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Show everybody that you are a good person now. I know you are, Adora wouldn’t have so much faith in you if you weren’t. Prove to everyone that you can change. You’re just a child, Catra. You don’t deserve execution.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra narrowed her eyes at Micah.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do I prove that I’m trying to be good?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s for you to figure out, but I think it would be good to start with helping to rebuild Salineas.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra nodded. That made sense.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait- how old do you think I am?!” she asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Micah looked her up and down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh- 16?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra stared at him for a moment before breaking out into laughter. She felt tears rise to her eyes, but this time they were happier. She shook her head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a really bad judge of age. I’m 20,” Catra giggled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Micah looked mildly embarrassed but laughed it off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Even better then. I’d feel bad if a teenager had to spend her days rebuilding a city.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra looked at the King and smiled. Maybe there was some hope for her after all.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Picture To Burn</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Using @mikella_star (instagram)’s Inner Amity AU for this chapter! I don’t know how she had her AU planned out, but this is a little bit like how I imagine it. I was gonna do a final scene with Luz and Amity talking but this got to be really long.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Luz had never seen Amity like this. She was spacing out, panting occasionally, and looked a little confused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their fight had been the morning before. Now that they finally had a working portal again, Luz was gonna have to go home soon. When Amity found out, she flipped. Luz didn’t know why, they had both known from the beginning that she would have to leave the Boiling Isles eventually.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Amity had gotten so angry. She screamed and cried because she didn’t want Luz to leave her. Luz had sat on the floor in front of her in her bedroom, trying to figure out how to help. She had never seen Amity so upset.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not fair! Anytime I ever get something that makes me happy it just gets snatched away!” Amity cried. Luz scooted forward and wrapped her arms around Amity. Amity threw them off of her. She sniffed and furiously wiped at her tears. “If you’re going to leave, I might as well go first,” she said, climbing to her feet, grabbing her bag, and running out the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luz had sat there on the ground, shell-shocked, while she heard Amity run out of The Owl House.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, Amity couldn’t avoid Luz forever. They went to the same school after all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity sat at the opposite end of the table from Luz, aggressively eating her sandwich. She was just staring at the table and would occasionally stop eating and her eyes would glaze over. Luz exchanged a worried look with Willow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Amity? Are you okay?” Willow asked, turning towards the green-haired witch who sat beside her. It took Amity a moment to register that she was being spoken to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Amity coughed. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Her eyes drifted back to the table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t look fine,” Luz chimed in. Amity let out a low growl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I am. You wouldn’t care if I wasn’t anyway.” Amity rolled her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luz scoffed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course I would! I’m not just leaving you, okay?! I have to leave everyone here, all my friends, Eda, King, Lilith! You aren’t special!” Luz was almost yelling now, tears brimming her eyes. Willow gasped and Gus looked up from his scroll. Amity was crying now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Y-you never cared,” Amity whispered. She stood up and ran out, leaving her lunch half-eaten on the table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luz sunk back down into her seat, feeling awful. She hadn’t meant to lose her temper at Amity. This was hard on her too, she didn’t want to leave either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She buried her face in her hands. Willow reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just give her time to blow off some steam. She’ll come around eventually.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity didn’t end up coming around. She only got worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She stopped trying to avoid Luz and instead started acting like she didn’t know her. She ignored her in class and stopped sitting with her at lunch. She would rather sit with her siblings than Luz, it seemed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Luz’s last day on the Boiling Isles got closer and closer, she needed to know what was wrong with her friend.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wanna get in her brain,” she told Eda at dinner three nights before she was meant to leave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, no way. I’m not sending you into Amity’s mind,” Eda countered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve done it before! Come on, I wanna know what’s wrong with her!” Luz stood up from her chair slightly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have you tried just talking to her?” Lilith asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luz fell back down into her chair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I take that as a no,” Eda said. Luz huffed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She won’t talk to me. She acts like she doesn’t know me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eda rolled her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you can get her here by Thursday, I’ll let you get into her head.” She sighed and Luz lit up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you thank you thank you!” Luz squealed, pulling out the scroll Eda had gotten her to text Willow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Finish your food before you start texting, kid.” Luz blushed, sheepishly putting away her scroll.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, Eda.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After school the next day, which was Wednesday; two days before Luz had to leave, Willow dragged Amity out after school. She hadn’t wanted to, but Willow grabbed her wrist and pulled her all the way to The Owl House.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity freaked out, obviously. Hooty slammed shut behind the girls and refused to open again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is going on?!” Amity demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luz looked at her sadly. “I’m sorry it had to be this way. Eda?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eda cast the sleep spell and Amity passed out back into Willow’s arms. Together, the two girls carried her over to the couch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wanna go together?” Willow asked. Luz shook her head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I have to do this on my own.” Eda handed Luz a bell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know the drill. Whenever you’re ready.” Luz took a deep breath. After a moment, she nodded to Eda.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m ready.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In a moment, she was inside Amity’s mind. The first thing she noticed was how different it looked from Willow’s</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead of a forest, Amity’s head resembled the Blight Manor, filled with long halls and dark colors. Luz began walking. She should probably try and find her Inner Amity, she could be useful.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luz trailed down the main corridor. Every fifteen feet or so, a hallway branched off. Luz walked into the first one on her left.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Along the walls were picture frames that looked similar to the ones that were in Willow’s mind. She assumed that these were her memories. Each one of the pictures was of Amity and Emira at different points in their lives. Most looked happy except for one at the end of the hallway that was burned. Luz’s brows scrunched together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the curious girl she always was, Luz casually fell into it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inside the memory, she was in a room. It was charred and burned but she could still see a very young Amity and Emira sitting on the floor behind the doorway, curled into each other. She could hear yelling and shouting coming from another room. Amity was crying and Emira looked scared.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luz slowly backed out of the memory. There wasn’t anything there she could fix. She fell into the hallway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shook her head, trying to remember what she was doing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finding Inner Amity. Right. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She stepped back out into the main courier and picked up her pace, looking into each hall for the person who could help her, hopefully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One hallway she peered into was completely blacked out. Every single picture was burned. She could make out the images in a few, one being of Amity and her mother. Her mom was holding a bottle of something and Amity didn’t look very happy at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luz quickly figured out that Amity’s memories were organized very neatly. Each hallway held all the memories she had with a specific person. Luz began searching for her hallway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When she found it, she didn’t believe that it was hers. Most of the memories were tampered with and charred. She gasped as she spotted a pink flame at the end of the hallway. She raced towards it, slipping through the shadows as to not be seen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She stood just behind Inner Amity, who was holding a handful of magenta fire as she burned what Luz could tell was her memory of Grom. In the picture on the wall, they were being held up by other students after they defeated the monster and were smiling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She was just holding her back” inner Amity spoke. Her voice was like a dark, twisted version of the Amity she had come to know and love’s voice. Luz pressed herself up against the wall opposite of inner Amity. She glanced to her right, looking for a way out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was something shiny at the end of the hallway that she could see the fire reflecting in. Amity was moving down to the next painting on the wall. Luz had to do something, and fast.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She moved along the wall, heading towards the shiny thing. When she reached it, she realized that it was a chained up vault. There was no way she was getting in there without being spotted by Inner Amity. She took a deep breath. She needed to just face the problem head-on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, stop! Why do you want to ruin all of our memories together?!” Luz called out. Inner Amity spun around. Her eyes were pitch black and inky tears rolled down her face. She seemed to recognize Luz immediately.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You ruined Amity. You’re leaving her. Why keep around memories of people who don’t care?” Inner Amity tilted her head to the side and smiled wickedly, like she was daring Luz to try and respond. Luz glanced between her face and the fire. It cast creepy shadows on the both of them as Luz stepped closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t wanna leave, but I have to. When you love somebody, you always go back for them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luz watched as the fire slowly burnt out. They were just left with the sound of Inner Amity’s quietening cries.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to help me fix all of our memories together?” Luz asked. Inner Amity didn’t reply for a few moments but turned to the Grom memory next to her. She pressed a hand to it and slowly, the burns fell away and the color returned. Luz smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inner Amity and Luz were standing in the main corridor outside of Luz’s hallway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luz pulled out her bell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve gotta talk to Amity now. I don’t quite know how the inner-person stuff works and if she’ll remember this, but thanks for not making her forget me so soon.” Luz smiled at Inner Amity, who had stopped crying. Inner Amity nodded and made her way back into the hallway. Luz caught a ghost of a smile on her face.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Begin Again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one feels... oddly familiar ;)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“No, no, no, stop…”</p><p>Catra woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of mumbling. She rubbed at her eyes to push the haze of sleep away. She didn’t need her night vision to know where the noises were coming from. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and away from the plush bed. After she had moved into Adora's room, she had demanded that they replace the Horde-style bed with a regular soft Bright Moon one. It had taken some getting used to, but it was much nicer than the old bed, which was too small to sleep the both of them unless Catra curled up at her feet, and these days that spot was reserved for Melog.</p><p>Beside her, Adora tossed and turned, mumbling and crying out in her sleep. Some words were coherent, others were just gibberish to Catra.</p><p>Melog laid at their feet and had woken up as well, looking to Adora with a  concerned expression on their face. Catra slowly reached out for Adora.</p><p>“No! Catra… Cat- catra?” Catra stopped at the sound of Adora crying out for her. She could only imagine what was going on inside her head. At a closer look, she realized that Adora had tears falling down her face in her sleep. Catra’s heart ached.</p><p>She wrapped her arms around the blonde, pulling her into her chest. She tried to rouse her, shaking her shoulder and tugging lightly on her hair to wake her up, but her tactics didn’t work. </p><p>They would just have to wait this one out.</p><p>She tried her best to comfort her lover, rocking her gently and whispering sweet nothings to her. Adora had her face buried in Catra’s chest but was still trapped in her dream. Catra could feel her tears soaking into her tank top. </p><p>She shook Adora a little harder.</p><p>“Adora, baby, wake up. Come on, wake up for me. It’s okay, I promise. You’re safe.” Catra ran her hand through Adora’s hair.</p><p>Adora startled awake a moment later. She jerked back, pushing herself out of Catra’s arms and to the other side of the bed. Her breathing was heavy and fast and there was a wild look in her eyes. <br/>Catra reached out to grab her hand.</p><p>“Adora! It’s okay! It’s just me. You’re okay. You’re safe,” she assured her, rubbing her thumb over Adora’s knuckles. She watched as Adora was finally able to focus on her, blue eyes overrun with tears.</p><p>Carefully, Catra pulled Adora back into her arms. She was shaking and tears streamed down her face silently. Catra pressed a kiss to the top of her head.</p><p>“It’s okay babe. It’s okay. He’s gone. It’s over. We’re safe. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.” Catra rubbed Adora’s back, trying to bring her back to herself. Her eyes were far away and distant and Catra bit her lip.</p><p>She pulled away slightly to study Adora a little closer. Melog got up and came over, curling themselves between Adora and Catra. Catra rested a hand on Adora’s cheek. </p><p>“Adora? Can you look at me, sweetheart?” She gently stroked her cheek. Adora didn’t respond.</p><p>She was awake, but lost in her own mind and memories, Catra realized. She was going into shock.</p><p>“Adora, come on. You gotta focus on me. You’re okay. It’s over!” Catra could feel tears pooling in her own eyes now. She was scared, seeing Adora like this. She had never gotten like this after a nightmare. She usually just cried for a few minutes then went back to sleep. Catra feared that she had done something wrong.</p><p>Catra leaned forward and kissed her forehead, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face.</p><p>“Adora?” She called.</p><p>Adora let out a choked sob and lunged forward, grabbing Catra into a hug and beginning to cry into her chest.</p><p>“C-Catra,” She whispered. Catra breathed a sigh of relief.</p><p>“It’s okay, I’m here. We’re okay. You’re safe,” she repeated, cradling Adora and playing with her hair.</p><p>She didn’t know how long they sat there. Adora’s cries blended in with the sounds of the waterfall in the corner of their room and Catra just tried to keep reassuring her that they were safe.</p><p>She had never seen Adora like this. She had never seen her so… broken. She wasn’t saying much, just crying into Catra’s fur.</p><p>She heard Adora sniff as her tears came to an end. She just didn’t have anything left to cry. Slowly, Adora peeled herself off of Catra.</p><p>“I’m sorry you had to see that,” she whispered, head hanging.</p><p>“Adora, no. Don’t apologize. It’s okay. You’ve seen me in fifty shades of ugly, it’s okay for me to see you in your not-so-perfect moments too. That’s what we signed up for when we decided to date, right?” Catra cracked a crooked smile, but apparently, she had crossed a line somewhere in her statement. Adora teared up again.</p><p>She buried her face into her hands, ponytail swinging at the sudden movement.</p><p>“Adora? Did I say something wrong?” Catra reached out and lightly gripped Adora’s shoulders.</p><p>“I’m- I’m not supposed to have not-so-perfect moments.” She caught Adora’s quiet words just barely, and she guessed that had she been anyone else she wouldn’t have heard them at all. Thank the stars for her cat-like hearing.</p><p>Catra’s heart shattered for Adora. She gently pulled her back into her arms. Adora didn’t fight her and instead melted into her embrace. Adora hugged her arms around her body as Catra held her.</p><p>“Adora, baby, no. I promise you that it’s okay. You don’t need to be perfect all the time. Fuck, you don’t even need to be perfect most of the time.” Catra kissed the top of her head. Adora choked on a sob.</p><p>“B-but Shadow Weaver always said-”</p><p>“Fuck what Shadow Weaver said! We established a long time ago that she should not be someone we listen to. Don’t let what she did to us- what she did to <em> you </em> dictate your life. She’s gone now. What she did was horrible, but she can’t hurt us anymore. <em> I’m </em>telling you that you don’t need to be perfect. Especially not when it’s just the two of us, alone in our room. Who are you gonna listen to? Me, or Shadow Weaver?”</p><p>Adora looked up at Catra with watery eyes. She looked conflicted. Catra rubbed her upper arm.</p><p>“Look, I know it’s hard to move on. She really hurt us. But now we need to be better than her. We need to make choices for ourselves. Adora, the only one hurting you now is you.”</p><p>Catra reached up to Adora’s ponytail.</p><p>“And we’re gonna start fixing that with this.” She pulled out the hair tie, letting Adora’s hair fall free around her shoulders. She tossed the hairband to the side, using the hand that wasn’t holding Adora to ruffle her hair and smooth it out.</p><p>“What?” Adora asked, looking down at her hair resting on her shoulders.</p><p>“You aren’t a soldier anymore, baby. You don’t need to wear a uniform. No more ponytail, at least not at night. It’s really hurting your hairline.” Catra laughed, dragging her fingertips along Adora’s hairline. Adora cracked a smile at that.</p><p>“Come on, let’s lay down.” She gently guided Adora to lay down, pulling the covers up around them. She hugged her as Adora snuggled into her chest.</p><p>“Tomorrow, we’re gonna take the day off. You need to relax.” She felt Adora stiffen at that.</p><p>“But we have work to do! Rebuilding, meetings, we have to bring those goods to Erelandia-” Adora was hushed by Catra’s finger on her lips.</p><p>“Etheria will survive without She-Ra for a day. I’m sure Arrow Boy and Sparkles can handle the meetings without us. You need your rest. If all else fails, Swift Wind can deliver the goods. It’ll be okay, Adora. Even 8-foot tall princesses need rest too.” Catra giggled. Adora looked hesitant but smiled too.</p><p>She lowered her head again, resting it on Catra’s arm. Catra carded a hand through Adora’s hair.</p><p>“It’s gonna be okay, Adora. If you need to, we can set up some sessions with Perfuma. I’m sure it would help. But for now, I’m always here for you. Bow and Glimmer are too. You don’t need to hide anymore.”</p><p>Adora nodded, blinking sleepily.</p><p>“I-I’ll try to stop listening to what Shadow Weaver used to tell me. But only if you don’t make me stop wearing my jacket. Not yet.”</p><p>Catra shook her head.</p><p>“We can go at your own pace, Adora. I’m always going to be with you no matter how fast or slow that is.” Catra carefully lifted Adora’s chin and kissed her. Adora kissed back, bringing one hand up to grapes at Catra’s. When they pulled apart, Adora smiled. "Just consider it a new beginning." Adora's smile widened and she leaned back in to steal another kiss.</p><p>“Thank you, Catra. I love you.” Adora clasped Catra’s hand in hers as she settled back gown against Catra and the pillow. Melog had fallen asleep between them and Catra let her tail drape over them and onto Adora’s thigh.</p><p>“I love you too, Adora.”</p><p>And in that moment, nothing else she had ever said had been more true.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>